A Staten Island satellite-TV salesman was sentenced to more than five years in prison Thursday for aiding Hezbollah’s recruitment of suicide bombers by beaming the group’s anti-Israel propaganda into U.S. homes.
Javed Iqbal, 45, told Manhattan Federal Court Judge Richard Berman his arrest has devastated him financially and hurt his wife and six children.
Prosecutors say the former motorcycle mechanic notched a $28,000-per-month deal with Al Manar to broadcast its programming in U.S. homes in an arrangement that generated $1 million.
“I did not make any profit as a result of broadcasting Al Manar, and it cost me my entire life,” Iqbal told Berman.
He was sentenced to 69 months in prison after pleading guilty in December to providing material aid to a terrorist organization.
Iqbal’s attorney, Joshua Dratel, said his client held no religious or political loyalties to Hezbollah, but was out to make a buck. Dratel reminded Berman that Iqbal’s HDTV Limited also provided customers with Christian programming, adult entertainment and gay and lesbian channels.
“He is a businessman and sought to provide services he thought would generate profits,” Dratel wrote in court papers.
Prosecutors disagreed, saying Iqbal travelled to South Beirut to seal the deal with Al Manar higherups. “He was, in a very real sense, Hezbollah’s man in New York City,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Snyder.
Archive for May, 2009
Satellite TV salesmen gets prison time for aiding anti-Israel terror group
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009Intelsat Announces Intelsat 22 Satellite to Provide Incremental Capacity in High-dema
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009Intelsat Announces Intelsat 22 Satellite to Provide Incremental Capacity in High-demand Regions
Last update: 10:42 a.m. EDT April 27, 2009
PEMBROKE, Bermuda, Apr 27, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Intelsat Ltd., the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services, announced today its plan to add a new satellite to its global fleet. The Intelsat 22 satellite is expected to be launched in Q1 2012, and will serve at the 72deg East longitude orbital location over the Indian Ocean region.
The design of the Intelsat 22 payload is optimized to address high growth service areas, to provide continuity of services and to support Intelsat’s strategic initiatives. The satellite will supply 48 C- and 24 Ku-band 36 MHz equivalent transponders to network services and media customers in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, providing incremental capacity for commercial and government applications. The Intelsat 22 satellite will feature custom-tailored beams to meet traffic patterns in these high-demand regions including C-band capacity for Africa and Asia, and an ability to cross-connect between the two regions. Its Ku-band payload will provide coverage of the Middle East and East Africa, with connectivity into Europe. The Ku-band payload will include a mobility beam bridging South East Asia, the Indian Ocean and the coastline of Africa that will support Intelsat’s global mobility strategy for maritime and aeronautical applications.
The Intelsat 22 satellite will also host a specialized UHF payload for the Australian Defence Force, as announced separately today. Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems will manufacture the satellite. The launch provider has not yet been announced.
Intelsat Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing Stephen Spengler commented, “Intelsat continues to see strong growth in the Africa and Middle East regions and for connectivity between Asia and Africa. The 72deg East longitude orbital location is ideal for addressing these requirements and for delivering follow on capacity for our network services and government customers operating in these regions and the satellite’s design will allow us to further progress our global maritime strategy.”
About Intelsat
Intelsat is the leading provider of fixed satellite services worldwide. For more than 40 years, Intelsat has been delivering information and entertainment for many of the world’s leading media and network companies, multinational corporations, Internet service providers and governmental agencies. Intelsat’s satellite, teleport and fiber infrastructure is unmatched in the industry, setting the standard for transmissions of video, data and voice services. From the globalization of content and the proliferation of HD, to the expansion of cellular networks and broadband access, with Intelsat, advanced communications anywhere in the world are closer, by far.
Intelsat Safe Harbor Statement: Some of the statements in this news release constitute “forward-looking statements” that do not directly or exclusively relate to historical facts. The forward-looking statements made in this release reflect Intelsat’s intentions, plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs about future events and are subject to risks, including known and unknown risks. Detailed information about some of the known risks is included in Intelsat’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2008 and Intelsat’s other periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Because actual results could differ materially from Intelsat’s intentions, plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs about the future, you are urged to view all forward-looking statements contained in this news release with caution. Intelsat does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Dish Network Renews Affiliation with ION Television
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009Agreement Includes Launch of Two National Services for Dish Customers
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ION Media Networks, owner and operator of the nation’s largest broadcast television station group, today announced that Dish Network Corporation, the nation’s third largest pay-TV provider, will extend distribution of ION Television on Dish’s most broadly distributed programming tier.
Starting this month, Dish Network will distribute ION Television as part of its Classic Bronze 100 programming package. This expands ION’s distribution to the vast majority of Dish’s nearly 14 million subscribers.
“Dish is one of our most important distribution partners and we are particularly pleased with this win/win relationship,” said Brandon Burgess, Chairman and CEO of ION Media Networks. “We look forward to supporting and welcoming the growing numbers of Dish subscribers to ION Television — especially in the Pacific and Mountain time zones.”
ION Television features a “Positively Entertaining” array of compelling television series, theatrical and made-for-television movies, and specials. The recently rebranded network is populated with hit content from the award winning, critically acclaimed libraries of CBS Television, NBC Universal, RHI Entertainment, Sony Pictures Television, Twentieth Television and Warner Bros., among others. More specifically, ION Television’s lineup is anchored by off-network popular series including “Boston Legal, “NCIS,” and blockbuster theatrical films. This fall, current hits “Criminal Minds” and “Ghost Whisperer” join ION’s schedule along with an original acquisition, “Durham County”.
About ION Media Networks
ION Media Networks, Inc. owns and operates the nation’s largest broadcast television station group and ION Television, which reaches over 94 million U.S. television households via its nationwide broadcast television, cable and satellite distribution systems, and features popular TV series and movies from the award-winning libraries of RHI Entertainment, CBS Television, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Television, Twentieth Television and Warner Bros., among others. Using its digital multicasting capability, the Company has launched several digital TV brands, including qubo, a channel for children focusing on literacy and values, and ION Life, a channel dedicated to active living and personal growth. It also has launched Open Mobile Ventures Corporation (OMVION), a business unit focused on the research and development of portable, mobile and out-of-home transmission technology using over-the-air digital television spectrum. For more information, visit www.ionmedia.com.
World Fishing Network: Fully Hooked On HD
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009Mike Reynolds — Multichannel News, 4/22/2009 4:09:43 PM MT
WFN: HD is now broadcasting its full programming line-up in 100% native high-definition.
Since it bowed last May, WFN HD has launched a quartet of original series in the enhanced format: Charlie Moore TV, Hookin’ Up with Mariko Izumi, Getting School’d with JP DeRose and WFN’s Reel Road Trip. The anglers network has also been working with its programming partners to produce all of the other shows in native HD and now brought its entire roster into the HD circle.
Meanwhile, sister network World Fishing Network will continue to air its own distinct broadcast schedule in standard definition to give cable, satellite and telco distributors the option to meet their subscribers’ needs.
“As consumer demand for HD continues to grow, we are uniquely positioned in the outdoor category to offer cable, satellite and telecommunications distributors the perfect product to fill the void,” said WFN president Mark Rubinstein in a statement. “We’re excited to bring the beauty of fishing home to viewers with the stunning picture quality that WFN HD delivers so that HDTV owners can enjoy the world’s most beautiful fishing locales in all of their grandeur.”
In the U.S., WFN counts Verizon FiOS, Dish Network and Charter Communications as affiliates.